Quest Testing Brightness

[Abstract]

”Alright…” the Spiritist said cautiously, with an expression that said he didn’t quite believe Kreig. As the larger man slowly left, he hesitated, trying to think of a farewell. ”Good luck,” he finally settled on, though what he was wishing luck for… neither of them quite knew.

The walk home would be a quite one, interrupted by only one event. It was a minor one, something that could be forgotten easily, but was hopefully enough to sooth Kreig’s unsteady feelings. It was an ordinary encounter, one with a friendly family of four…

Kreig would –quite accidentally- bump the mother of the family whilst turning a corner. She had been carrying a large stack of items, and consequently dropped them with a squeak. Hurriedly, she, and two of her children stooped down to grab them, ignoring the brawler for a moment. The last child –the youngest- stuck her tongue out at the man, a goofy grin on her face. She was a young girl of maybe six or seven, and scolded the man as such.

”Watch where you’re going, silly!” she said happily, as if nothing truly irritating had actually happened. To enhance the remarkably cute scene, she put balled fists on her hips and gave Kreig a mock stern expression. Luckily, her mother and siblings had just straightened, the stack of parcels and food re-balanced.

”Reese, leave him alone,” the woman scolded, before smiling up at the brawler. If he tried to apologise, she would shake it off, her expression slowly turning into a frown. ”Are you alright?” she inquired, obviously concerned. ”You look a little distraught…”

The motherly scene was interrupted by yet another cute one. Reese looked at the taller pair in confusion, inquiring with a flat ”Eh?” Her older brother –about 10- stood by her side now, and gave her a light shove. ”Be quiet… mother’s trying to be motherly.” As if to pretend he hadn’t done anything, he showed the two adults an angelic smile.

OOCThe big stuff will be in my NEXT post. This is just to introduce you to the four characters

[Kreig Messer]

After departing from the area, with a good luck from the Spirtist... Kreig simply needed to think but before he could reach wherever he planned to go before returning to the Dormitories, he had quite accidently bumped into someone whilst rounding a corner....A woman and her children. When he bumped into the woman he had caused her to accidentally drop he purchases "A-ah, I'm sorry" Kreig spoke, partially prompted by the youngest child's adorable chide to aid in gathering the fallen purchases. He wasn't really paying attention to her actions though, and quite frankly found himself being not as useful as the family were already quite quick in gathering up the spilt items.

"Yes, Ma'am I'm.... well no not really....In fact-" He was blustering, unable to get the firm grasp of words in his confused state "I'm- I just faced a ghost from the past, if that makes any sense....does it?" It was more like he asked himself as he looked upon the oddly cute family of four, unsure of what to do. In fact he felt rooted in place really, The children were quite cute and the mother motherly, to be fair such a meeting would be quite pleasant on usual days but on this day....especially with such profound cuteness, it was all quite odd.

' Calm down, Kreig. I don't imagine you will be facing another ghost whilst interacting with this family and I doub't they will all turn out to be cannibalistic killers" He told himself, whilst also wondering where the last thought came from as he rubbed his forehead. "I'm sorry ma'am, its just turning out to be one those day's where you one gets out of the wrong side of the bed" He chuckled lightly, trying to regain some sense of composure as he looked at her and her family some more "I'm sure my own patron would tell me to get a grip right now"

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[Abstract]

The woman nodded in an understanding way as Kreig mentioned the ‘ghost of his past’. Considering it was a metaphor, she took it as such, not even considering that the ‘ghost’ was… actually a ghost. The children, however, took it literally. “Ghostie? Where!” the youngest said giddily, practically bouncing. Her mother shook her head and placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder, muttering “It’s a figure of speech,” before returning her attention to Kreig.

The kids had a muttered and inaudible conversation after that, where the oldest girl explained ‘figure of speech’ as ‘it isn’t real, silly’. This created a disappointed expression from both of her younger siblings. “Don’t mind them,” the mother explained, “They get a bit rowdy. Children.” The last work was said as if it explained everything. Which, depending if Kreig knew much about children, it did.


“Would you like to come for tea? Talk about it maybe?” She’d at first hadn’t been going to invite the sudden stranger into their house, but the mention of a ‘patron’, implying Kreig was involved with the knights, made her much more trustworthy. It was a simply, friendly offer, accented by the littlest’s squeak of delight, before proceeding to grapple Kreig’s leg.

OOCAre they too cute? Maybe. Don’t worry, they’re not cannibals :| No matter your option, we can fast forward to the next day… I feel like I’m being a little cliché here. In this part and the next XD

The Next Day

Kreig would be out on the streets for more trivial purposes today. No letter of importance inviting him to speak to a ghost, nothing to shake up the day. It was perfectly ordinary, nice and simple. At least until about eight bells in the evening, when things began to darken. He’d find himself in a slightly less pleasant part of the city, not flat out vicious like in Sunberth, but… maybe like the nicer parts of Sunberth. Not quite there, but getting to it.

There wouldn’t be much trouble until… A squeak, from a young child came from a closed door nearby. Then the sound of hitting, and shushing. Then… weeping, this time from someone older. A woman. A pair of gruff men began speaking harshly, one to the woman, one to the child. More weeping. Another slap, and another squeak. Softer –though still male- tones spoke in a shaky tone, as if trying to calm someone.

The door was unlocked. More like the lock was missing, with a large hole where it should have been. The building looked like a house, mostly, with a scratched up label on the front of the door that currently unreadable. There were windows, but said windows were simply shuttered, with the coverings locked.

Kreig could go in. He could look through the keyhole. He could leave. It was his choice.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig didn’t have much to do this day, though part of him was still shaken by yesterday’s events to really care, simply delighting in walking around. Even being invited yesterday by that woman and her family didn’t really calm him down much, he had to admit that thing called ‘tea’ wasn’t so bad… after putting sugar in int of course, the taste by itself Kreig found bland and not worth burning his tongue over. He hadn’t really told her much, he spoke as honestly as he could without trying to mention the word ‘child’ in anything really. After all, who would want to find out that one of the Knight’s squires was a child killer, accident or not?

Nevertheless the previous day ended on a high note, and this evening felt would be the same. At least, till he heard the sound of violence as he traversed the Bittern District and nearly passed the source. He stood frozen, the sound of a woman and a child being beaten as he turned his head to look at the old. The door was closed, but lacked a lock…a pretty big lock by the look of the hole. He could feel rage boiling, innocents being beaten? A child being beaten? That was simply unforgivable… But he couldn’t jump to conclusions, could he? As farfetched as it could be… it could be a simple misunderstanding. Why could it be a misunderstanding, Kreig did not know. He dearly hoped that it wasn’t what he thought, he dearly hoped that tonight there would be no one cruel enough this day because, on general note, the people didn’t need bastards like them. On the personal side however; He would be angry enough to tear them limb from limb.

Slowly he tread, approaching the door and lowered himself. His gauntleted fists clasped together, his longsword hanged by his side, both ready for the worse as he looked through the hole and prepared himself for the worse
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[Abstract]

OOCI'm so sorry for the delay on this v.v Life happened.

Inside the building was a scene few people would enjoy. In an amusing way, it was almost cliché... but not in a good way. In the far corner was the obvious source of the noise... a collection of five people huddled there, each looking more scared than the next. There were three children, and woman, and a man... they could almost all be a family, except the potential father held no resemblance to the others. On top of that, they would all be familiar to Kreig, from the day previously... The quartet he'd had tea with, and the Spiritist that had introduced him to the murdered child.

The other inhabitants would be unfamiliar to the squire, but their general occupation was obvious. Professional bullies. There were about five in total, to equal those of the victims, but each was at least twice the size of the cowering group. They were all bulky and armed, with various sections of leather armor and heavy, brutal, weapons. They were laughing as well. Laughing at the family.

A few moments after Kreig entered, however, silence fell. Everyone stared at the newcomer, some in shock, some in anger or annoyance. One of the children grinned widely, and appeared about to call to the squire, before having her mother's hand clasped over her mouth.

One of the bullies took a few steps forward, a dark expression on his face.

"Who are you?" was the cold inquiry.

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig entered the room, his face a blank slate to those who could see. Before he entered the room, he had experienced many emotions, rage, confusion, more rage, concern, even more concern and ,in the end, absolutely more rage. The people held captive where those whom he had met the previous day, the spiritist whom had reintroduced the child ghost from the past, allowing him closure by gaining forgiveness and apologizing for what he had done… and the family of 4 whom he had the pleasure of spending time with. It felt odd, confusing, startling to see the people he had met the day before being captives in the same room….. and it enraged him.

The rage didn’t show, though. There was this eerie calm that descended upon Kreig as scanned the room. Scanned each and every face present, to know who he needed to hit and how much harm came to those he cared. He was angry, yet it felt so cold inside…. As if something was burning, like some sort of countdown. He looked at the face of the bully whom quite coldly asked Kreig who he was.

Kreig turned his head to look at the Bully, the bastard dressed in leather armor, all his kin did and had various vicious looking weapons with them. Kreig had better armor and weapons he considered far more vicious than the thugs before, he just needed to wrangle them around their heads. “I am not to be trifled with" His voice was monotone; empty of emotion but yet a clear intent to intimidate. He turned his head to the family and to the Spiritist and with a polite tone emitting from his voice “I know its redundant to ask, but are you all alright?” He flexed his right hand, his hand ready to snap towards the bully closest to him if he didn’t bother to step back now. He would pull him forward and aim a kick at his knee, immobilizing him and use him as his own hostage if these mongrels thought to attack him. Part of him however nagged at him not to, because he did not know the depths of their immorality. That and they had five people that would be devastating to see die, three of them children. He didn’t know these people, he didn’t know what they could do… and thus he must tread the water before allowing himself to be engulfed .

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[Abstract]

"We're fine... d-don't worry about us," the Spiritist said in a strained tone, attempting to smile despite the strange situation. He was currently helping the mother sooth the children, though one -the one who'd smiled- seemed quite calm about the whole situation. In fact, she was staring at their 'savior', wanting to see every moment of the battle.

One of the bullies, a few steps back from the apparent leader, snorted at Kreig's statements. He strode forward a little, and muttered to his leader. The leader nodded, and the man continued forward, grinning evilly at the squire. "Don't want to mess with you, huh? Well... let's see. Fists only. A little... brawl, shall we say?"

Giving his opponent a few moments to respond and prepare, he stepped forward and swung a fist at Kreig's face.

OOCThis guy is purposefully being stupid. I mean really... trying to brawl a master brawler? Feel free to squish him without my moderation

[Kreig Messer]

Kreig was glad that they were alright , though this event will likely scar them. He turned his head to the bullies. They looked like a really dumb lot, which for the most part felt completely true since they bothered doing this in Syliras of all places ' I suppose that makes it fortunate for me' He thought as he cracked his knuckles. They wanted a brawl, was it? So be it...

when the fist was launched, Kreig caught the filthy thing by its wrist with his left hand and pulled the man close. He butted the bastards nose with his forehead and as the man stumbled back he was soon pulled again and found his face getting bloodier with another headbutt. Soon the wind was knocked out of him as Kreig gave him a heavy right punch to his stomach. Showing the bastard a little mercy, he let go of his wrist and let him drop forward "A tad too easy...." Kreig muttered as he sat upon the fools back, breathing deeply as he rubbed his temples then brought his hands together and looked at the Bullies "I do hope you realise I have the right to arrest you all in the name of the order, and that whatever you do right now other than letting these people go will make me and, on a greater lvl, the order very very angry" He looked at the apparent leader of the lot "Now tell me, and I do hope you choose your words wisely... "He chuckled, anger very apparent on his face ".... Why gents such as yourself thought it wise to terrorize that nice spiritst and that woman with her very darling children?"
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[Abstract]

The man groaned for a few moments as he lay on the floor, before going quiet. The leader scowled deeply, crossing his arms and bluntly ignoring all of Kreig's statements. He ignored his follower too, just glaring straight at the squire, keeping constant eye contact.

"Cmon. The rest of you," he said with a hiss, and three others came from behind him, all drawing weapons. One had a pair of knives, the other a heafty broad sword, and the third a wicked looking club covered in spikes. Rusty spikes. The wielder of this was bigger and more brutish than them all, grinning a little crazily at his opponent.

The trio seemed rather coordinated, as when the big one came up front to swing his club at Kreig's head, the one with the knives darted behind, while the warrior was distracted. He would try and slit the squire's Achilles tendons, in order to cripple the man. It would be something that would be hard to avoid, and hard to notice... and life threatening if it hit. The swordsman, slightly out of room with his large weapon, would stand aside for the time being.

[Kreig Messer]

Great….it was to be another All on one battle for Kreig, and he was the PETCHING ONE ‘by the shyke of Sunberth, how the petch do I get into these fights?....I’ve never had such luck when I TRY to get into them!’ And so Kreig came to the realization that a Hero has the most annoying odds in the most inconvenient of times, but back to the battle at hand. No time for griping after all, best at some tavern where he could get drunk or something like that….right he had to settle for being very very angry and he would definitely need that anger.

The leader rejected listening to Kreig and had the GALL to sic his loons on the brawler despite him announcing he was a squire… and boy where his loons ugly…..particularly the one with the spiked club, though something told Kreig he wouldn’t want to be left alone in a room with the one dual wielding knives if in a civilized situation. They were decently in sync with one another as they came at him like a pack of mongrels.

The largest of them, the one with the spike, came forward at him with the clear intent to swing at him and knock his head off. For Kreig, this would have been easy, an attack like that was easy to see as Kreig ducked and moved slighy forward, throwing a punch toward spikey’s balls with his right fists, the gauntleted hand ready to crush the giant’s balls like the nuts they were.

However Kreig found something odd as he threw that punch, his balance was off as his gaze seemed to tilt to his right. With a thud he found himself looking to his left side…. He didn’t quite realize what resulted in it, his own anger filling him with adrenaline and thus numbing him temporarily ‘Petch, this is no good!’ He was in a very vulnerable position right now, a very very bad one. He knew there was no time to waste, he had to act fast as he his right arm darted to his sword and drew it out as he adjusted himself quickly to be on his back, thrusting his sword towards spikey’s gut and hoping to be rid of the trio and settle for the duo. He had realized one thing though, one of his legs was inactive… which one he didn’t quite know but he assumed his right as he frantically tried to kick at whatever caused him to fall, and so far his left seemed to be the only one answering.

“BY SYLIRAS' LAW, YOU HAVE CONDEMNED YOURSELVES TO DEATH” Kreig shouted as loud as he could in the tiny room, for one thing remained certain right; He needed to insure the survival of the civillians, and by the gods he’d rather become an invalid than let anything like that happen!

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